Ninja Notes

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7 Ways to Upgrade Your Fraction Strategies

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Teaching fractions can be a challenge when students struggle. We put together some of our best fraction strategies to help you teach fractions to your upper elementary students. Come have a read!

Fractions can be a struggle for many students, but it really comes down to understanding them visually. Before we ever teach students the numerals or symbols, we try to show them the meaning of fractions visually in a variety of ways so they can truly understand parts, sets, and wholes. If you’ve ever struggled to teach fractions to your students, this is probably the post for you. Come try these fraction strategies that are usually simple enough for all students to master.

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7 Inexpensive Ways to Decorate Your Classroom

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Are you looking for ways to decorate your classroom that don't break the bank? We've put together some tried and true ideas that you can use for any age. You don't need to spend all your own money to fund your classroom, so come learn how to save and still have an engaging deor scheme.

The pressure of social media to have the “Pinterest Perfect” classroom can be a little overwhelming for any teacher, especially those on a budget. We are very fortunate in our classroom that we have a small budget for items needed, and we have full discretion on how we use it, but the last place we want to spend it is on decor. We prefer to spend any money we have on quality resources and learning materials. Check out this list of ways to decorate your classroom that don’t break the bank.

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Five Novels With Amazing Young Protagonists

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There is nothing better than a good book, but our students have repeatedly loved and reread these novels that feature young protagonists. Come read through our list and learn some of the ways we incorporate reading into our daily routines.

Read-aloud novels are a huge part of our daily literacy routine. We built in fifteen minutes each day where one of us reads from a novel to our students. It is important (even at the higher grades) to model fluency, self-monitoring, and questioning techniques when reading aloud to students. We include these minutes in our weekly Language Arts minutes.

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Recycle Old Art Projects 9 Fantastic Ways

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What do you do with old art projects that aren't really framing-worthy? There are lots of ways you can recycle and repurpose art in your classroom. This is a great way to get rid of practice work or those projects that just don't work out. Come read through these ideas and see what you can do in your upper elementary classroom today.

If you have a bunch of completed art projects or partially completed ones, we came up with a whole bunch of ways to recycle them into new things. Recycling art projects not only helps reduce waste but also encourages creativity and resourcefulness.

Before we recycle any piece of art, we encourage students to take a picture so it can be remembered but won’t take up space. This is so that students can see how they grow and change as artists as opposed to keeping it as a memory.

We hate wasting materials, so whenever possible, we recycle pieces of art projects and craft materials so they can be used again in the future. The last thing we want is for art projects to be thrown into the landfill. Sometimes we do art projects that are not meant for display because we are practicing skills. These are the ones we recycle first.

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Foster Environmental Stewardship in the Classroom

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Teaching students about environmental stewardship comes easily in most science classes, but there are lots of other ways to encourage being a responsible citiizen throughout your day in your upper elementary classroom. Come learn some of the ways we teach students to take care of the planet on a daily basis.

Climate change is a real concern for most young people these days. We have used environmental stewardship lessons as part of our overall science lessons, but there are lots of things that you can do in the classroom to help foster a love of caring for our planet. Little changes can make a big difference over time. Environmental stewardship is more than just taking care of the planet. It is about being a responsible citizen and thinking about how we impact the world. Come learn about how we integrate these lessons directly into the classroom.

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5 Games We Love More Than Dodgeball

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If you avoid playing dodgeball with your students in your upper elementary gym class, then here are five games we've taught are students that we love more than dodgeball-mostly because they don't involve throwing things at students. Come check out the simple rules to play these games we love today!

As a student, I hated dodgeball with a passion. I wore glasses and could barely see without them, but I wasn’t allowed to wear them in case they were broken. So, there I would be, blind as a bat, wandering around, trying not to get pelted by those giant red rubber balls that always left a mark. I saw a pattern immediately. The few top athletes (usually the biggest boys) knocked everyone out, usually hurting them in the process and then continued playing amongst themselves while the rest of us sat bored on the sidelines licking our wounds.

I vowed, as a teacher, I would never let any of my students experience that. This means there is no dodgeball in any of my gym classes. These are some of the games we love to play instead.

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